The problem is that environment really does matter. I worked from Thailand for three months on Koh Tao, had a great experience and learned a lot, but at the en

The problem is that environment really does matter. I worked from Thailand for three months on Koh Tao, had a great experience and learned a lot, but at the end of the day sketchy wireless + drunk spring breakers really put a damper on things. In Argentina everyone I knew was supportive of what I was working on, and all my friends always wanted to know what was up, take me out to grab drinks at a tango club, go to a drum concert on Monday evenings- my environment made it frictionless to work on a startup. (obligatory pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/copla201 http://www.flickr.com/photos/copla201) Being in Thailand on the island of Koh Tao, though, had the downside that 70% of the population turned over every couple of weeks, and the people that live there are there to escape from the world. Now, I completely respect that- if you're choosing between a 9-5 and scuba instructor on a beautiful Thai island, easy choice. And there's a lot of cool people who make that decision- however, those aren't the same people who are gung-ho on building a great business, or necessarily think that doing so is a worthwhile undertaking. It was an environment where just going to work was an exercise in friction. That doesn't mean that I didn't head out to the cafe to make progress every day, or get to read up on the topics that allow me to build what I build today from the gorgeous Echo Bar, but it does mean that the environment wasn't conducive to building a startup. I saved money, I had some great experiences, and I wouldn't take it back, if only for the learning experience- environment matters. Yes, you can work from anywhere, but that doesn't mean you should. However, as I write this I'm packing up my things to move to Budapest on Sunday- my co-founder is Hungarian and after working together online for seven months we're going to push to launch working in-person. The difference between Budapest and Koh Tao is that in Budapest there's already a support network in place- all the friends of my co-founder's who have already supported us at every turn. And it's that support network that's so crucial when building a startup. It's ok to take on the world, I wouldn't work on anything that didn't take on the world, but you damn well need to have an effective environment to work in when you move halfway across the world.